


pain is inevitable

by orayang



Category: Transformers - All Media Types, Transformers: Rescue Bots
Genre: Fluff, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, can be seen as platonic or not
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-23
Updated: 2019-11-05
Packaged: 2020-12-28 20:47:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,717
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21142970
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orayang/pseuds/orayang
Summary: Kade gets hurt (in big ways and small) and Heatwave needs to deal.





	1. Gash

**Author's Note:**

> Basically when you rewatch Rescue Bots and get hit with KadeWave feels. 
> 
> I can only imagine Kade is the type to like, step on legos all the time or just be unfortunate enough to get hit in the face by something. Also that rescue life seriously ups injury levels. Heatwave secretly/not so secretly freaks out some of the times and just laughs at Kade's stupidity other times. 
> 
> I swear they all won't be as serious as this one.

Kade is an idiot, though it isn’t like that’s new information. Heatwave has known that from the moment they had met. He’s a slob when it comes to food, egotistical, arrogant, and a complete cocky showoff of a fool around Hayley.

Not to mention how little he seems to absorb when it comes to anything remotely scientific.

Still, Heatwave finds that if there was one thing he could trust his partner to be smart about, it is Kade’s physical fitness.

No matter the day, even when Kade has a date, even if there was a rescue, or even when he had the flu (though Heatwave and Chief Burns had to put their foot down here), Kade was constantly conditioning himself.

He can easily be found doing push-ups in the station, lifting weights at the gym, or simply running around town.

As much grief Heatwave gives the eldest Burns child for his ability to consume anything in sight, it’s obvious why Kade is constantly inhaling his food when he’s expending that energy just as quickly.

Kade’s impressive physical abilities means that Heatwave, in theory, doesn’t need to worry as much when it comes to Kade running in fires or evading harm from the newest invention-gone-wrong.

(Still, Heatwave will never admit, even under threat of death, how his engine revs or how he needs to stifle a growl every time a projectile barely grazes by his human. Or how his EM field flares with worry. He especially will never admit that it warms his spark whenever Kade hides behind his frame, or how the pulse behind his touch grounds him, lets him know that his human is safe.)

(Because he will never let anything happen to his foolish, fleshy companion.)

Still, despite how good Kade is at avoiding crazed Bulls, blasters, or leaping through flames on a daily basis, he’s only human.

He’s also a rescuer.

Heatwave can do nothing but watch as a runaway hedge trimmer bot slashes through the side of his partner who bravely (stupidly) rushes in to cover two children who were in its destructive path while Heatwave was busy destroying the other hedge trimmer bots.

He feels his spark shudder and grow cold.

Kade’s blood starts to dribble onto the sidewalk like a leaky faucet that never got fixed. His gloved hand instantly presses to his side, applying pressure. A shaky smile slides on his face, trying to soothe the sobbing children lying underneath him.

Though every atom in him screams to get Kade help, he knows he had to destroy the final malfunctioning bot first.

It ends up crushed under his heel. Nothing left but scrap.

Heatwave sends out a message to the rest of the team to bring help as fast as possible. He might have been yelling. He can’t tell. There’s a loud buzzing in his audial receptors.

He watches his partner slowly move to a sitting position to let the children out now that the danger has passed. His forehead is covered in a sheen of sweat, his face screwed up in an expression of pain. His breath comes out in heavy huffs. Kade visibly sways on his knees.

The red bot swings his hand out to support Kade as he leans too far back, almost slamming the back of his head on concrete.

Kade’s eyes are glassy and unfocused, but he still turns to his partner, grinning weakly.

“Was,” he pants, “super cool, wasn’t I?”

Cold anger floods his frame. Anger at his partner for being such a frag headed self-centered fool. Anger at the runaway menaces that sliced through Griffin Rock. Anger at whoever or whatever made those things go absolutely nuts in the first place.

But really, he's furious most of all at himself.

He tries to swallow all of his emotions but his dentae clenches nearly to the point of shattering. A servo raises to cover his optics in a poor attempt to calm down.

“Heatwave, Dani and Blades are on their way,” he hears the Chief say over the comm.

_“Make sure he stays conscious,”_ Dani adds after. _“Try to put pressure on the wound, slow down the bleeding.”_

“Heh… got… it covered sis. Don’t worry ‘bout me. Been through a hell’uva lot worse than this before,” Kade laughs before immediately groaning in pain.

“Shut it and sit still,” the red mech growls. Despite his harsh tone, his servos curl further around Kade, cushioning him.

For once, Kade seems willing to follow his orders, which only serves to make Heatwave tense even more. Sensing the bot’s unease, Kade rests the hand lying limp on his side on Heatwave’s. Despite the thickness of his glove, Heatwave is still able to sense the firefighter’s pulse, both reassuring him and increasing his unease when he traces the sluggishness of it in comparison to its regular steady beat.

A prayer to Primus escapes Heatwave’s lips when he finally hears Blade’s rotors. Dani climbs down with the stretcher, her lips tight with worry. Heatwave gingerly sits Kade down on the stretcher, something ugly curling inside him as Kade whimpers. Still, the man manages to give a sloppy two-finger salute as he is lifted into the air.

All he can do is clench his servos and watch as his partner flies away.

_____

It really shouldn’t have been surprising to anyone who knew Kade that the man really didn’t let much keep him down. Nothing ever stopped him from eating either.

His family crowds around his hospital bed, expressions a mix of worry, relief, and exasperation as they watch him stuff himself with hospital food. Three bots loom outside the window, crowding around each other to take a look.

“Can’t believe I was ever worried about you,” Dani mutters both in fondness and irritation.

“Glad you weren’t hurt too seriously son,” Chief Burns says, placing his hand on Kade’s shoulder.

“Yeah bro, we were really worried about you. Trying to go out and be a hero or something?” Graham pips up.

Cody clings to his brother’s side. Kade manages to ruffle his little brother’s hair while shoving his face with hospital pudding. “I’m glad you’re okay,” he says.

Kade thankfully manages to swallow most of his pudding before opening his mouth. “Eh, nothing to worry ‘bout. Just another day in Griffin Rock. Just gonna end up with a sick new scar. Girls go wild over that stuff.”

When his eyes move to face his dad, he can't help but wince at the look of disapproval. His parents always managed to get his tough act to crack with just a look.

“Son, this is no joke. You were lucky to get by with some stitches. I know our job is dangerous, but please, spare your father’s blood pressure.”

The eldest Burns child sighs softly. “Sorry dad. Really, I’m fine though. Just need some painkillers, then I’ll be back out there putting out fires with Heatwave. Speaking of that,” Kade jabs his thumb towards the window where the bots are waving. “Where is the big guy? Not important enough to fit into his schedule huh? Did OP call him in, or something?”

“He was here when you woke up a while ago, but he left after,” Cody informs his older brother.

“Huh, whatever, doesn’t matter I guess. I’ll catch him back at the station,” Kade shrugs, and shoves another mouthful of pudding into his mouth, ignoring the twinge of disappointment that his partner didn’t even say hi before high tailing it out of the hospital.

“I’m sure he was just busy,” Cody reassures.

“Pfft, like I care what that old bucket of bolts does. He can do whatever he wants. I’m fine!”

Finishing his pudding, he went for his phone before turning to his siblings. “Forget about him, looks like there’s a raid happening around here. Whaddya guys say?”

The Burns children give each other a wide grin while Chief Burns groans at the antics of his children. “I’ll go grab a wheelchair,” he sighs in defeat.

_____

It takes a few days, but Kade is easily cleared to go home. With a bottle of antibiotics, painkillers, and an appointment to remove the stitches on his side, he’s excited to finally sleep in his own bed. He’s also not the type to complain about hospital food (all food is food) but he does miss his dad’s cooking.

(He definitely doesn’t care that he hasn’t seen Heatwave in the past few days while he was in the hospital. Nope, no way, not him.)

His dad orders him to stay out of rescues until his stitches are out. Surprisingly, as if Griffin Rock is trying to say sorry, the next couple days are relatively quiet. Sure, Jerry’s still getting into some sort of accident, Mrs. Neederlander’s cat is still getting stuck in a tree, and Mr. Harrison’s heli-pack would go haywire somewhere, but that was all stuff they could deal within a matter of minutes at this point in their careers.

Still, despite the slowdown in emergencies, it seemed like Kade couldn’t find Heatwave anywhere around the firehouse. It was super weird. Not to mention, the other bots always gave him guilty, shifty looks whenever he came down to look for him.

Kade will never admit to being the sharpest tool in the shed (he left that sort of stuff to Graham, he was more of a hammer guy anyways), but he was beginning to suspect that that Heatwave was avoiding him.

He’s half tempted to leave the mech alone. So what if he doesn’t want to see him? Does he think his partner’s useless now for getting injured in the field? Kade does have to admit, ever since the bots came into their lives, he hasn’t had a serious injury in a while. He was used to getting bruises from falling debris when he ran into buildings, or even just falling out of the trees once in a while when Mrs. Neederlander’s cat is being particularly fussy.

Kade runs a hand through his hair and groans when he realizes that he’s going to have to be the one to chase his stupid partner down and figure out what the hell is going on. Even if he wants to just leave the mech alone, they’re going to have to perform a rescue at some point. Not like Heatwave can just ditch Kade that easily.

God, he hates being the mature one.

So, he figures that even though Heatwave hasn’t been around when he’s been around, there’s no way he’s not going to be around during the deadass of night. The firetruck needs to recharge too, and it’s not like Kade has been pulling the nightshift, or any shift recently. He even goes out to ask the other bots and is glad to see that they seem as done with Heatwave’s skirting around the firehouse as he is. They confirm that Heatwave comes back at night, and that’s all Kade needs.

See, he can put together a plan too if he puts his mind to it.

He’s been through so many night shifts at this point that not sleeping comes pretty easily. The glow on his phone as he surfs the web makes it even easier. When it gets late enough at night that most of the people in the station are asleep, he makes his move, wrapping a blanket around his shoulders.

He passes by Graham who’s so engrossed by some sort of math equation that he barely registers anyone else’s presence besides by giving a halfhearted wave. Besides, it’s not like any of the members of the Burns family ran on a normal schedule anymore. It wasn’t strange to see any of them pace around the living room in the dead of night or just go be with the bots in the bunker.

He makes his way down quietly. Despite all his brashness and bluster, he could be stealthy when he needed to be. Made pulling pranks a lot easier anyways.

He spots his target in his alt mode makes his way over. Even before he’s a couple of feet away, Kade somehow feels that Heatwave knows he’s here. Kade also doesn’t know how a firetruck can look so tense, but he can really feel some jaw clenching vibes coming off of the mech. Doesn’t matter though, wasn’t gonna stop him from having this stupid conversation. He walks up to the side of the truck, gives the door two quick raps with his knuckles and waits.

It takes a couple of seconds of, what Kade assumes is pensive thought, before the door swings open.

Not wasting any time, Kade moves into the cabin with a grunt, wincing as he feels the gash on his side pull. “Ow,” he grumbles to himself before closing the door softly.

The atmosphere gets even more oppressive inside the cabin. It makes Kade wrap his blanket tighter around him. The silence doesn’t help much either. The hair on his arms and neck stand on edge uncomfortably. Heatwave refuses to show up on the inner screen. He and the bot just sit there for what feels like an eternity before the firefighter can’t bear to stand it any longer and puts his metaphorical foot down.

“Okay, fine, I guess I’m starting this. Why the hell have you been avoiding me?”

Heatwave _growls_ and Kade is hit by the ridiculousness of the situation as he tries to tamp down on the flash of anger. Hell, he knows he still can be an ass and Heatwave is grumpy on a good day, but he thought they were over with this shit for the most part. Haven't they reached some sort of understanding by now?

Kade reaches out to grip the steering wheel, rubbing his thumb at the edges of it. He sinks into the cushion of the seat, feeling drained. The painkillers were wearing off and the lateness of the hour was starting to hit. His voice drops soft and low, “C’mon buddy. Talk to me here. I’m injured, have mercy.”

Apparently playing the injury card is the wrong move, because the air chills, and Kade needs to wrap the blanket around him tighter. But he can feel his face flushing as the anger in his gut comes to a boil.

“God you dick, what is your problem?! Don’t want to babysit the invalid? Think I’m too soft and squishy to be your partner and want out? If you have something to say, just say it!”

The fire truck's engine rumbles loud, Kade can feel the vibrations beneath his feet.

“You could have died.”

Kade freezes. He tries to force his shoulders to relax.

He forgets that this unspoken understanding in their family (they all know the thread that is each of their lives has always been closer to getting cut compared to others) does not extend to the bots. They’ve been so, so lucky. None of them really thinks about it much. They’ve all been happy enough to live day by day, embracing every new day together as a gift. Kade has never been comfortable with thinking about his own fragility. He puffs out his chest and blusters for a reason.

“Buddy,” he sighs, “That’s the job.”

“You shouldn’t _be_ getting hurt. Not when you’re with me.”

Kade has to brace himself. It always feels like pulling teeth when he talks about anything with feelings. It feels weirder to do it with Heatwave too. They’re like two sides of a coin. They express their camaraderie through insults, rarely through anything honest. “You annoying bucket of bolts,” and “You egotistical idiot,” translates to “You’re my best friend,” and “I don’t know why I like you, but I do,” for the two of them. But maybe they need this. Or at least, Heatwave needs this, and it’s the least Kade can do to try and let him know that they’re okay.

With deep one breath, the firefighter tries to calm his nerves.

“I trust you more than I trust anyone else Heatwave. God knows you piss me off sometimes, but I know you’ve got my back. It was my call. Dad, Dani, Graham, and Cody don’t blame you. _I_ don’t blame you. It’s not your fault.”

The tension slowly bleeds out of the cabin, leaving only the taste of a melancholy defeat.

“It’s not going to happen again.”

Something twinges in Kade’s chest at the mech’s tired voice. He wants to say, “You can’t know that,” but somehow, he figures that this is the best he’s going to get.

He decides to trust his bot though. If his bot says it’s not going to happen again, who is he to disagree? So he says, “Okay buddy.”

“You’re not allowed to do anything stupid without letting me know first.”

Kade chokes. “Excuse you, all my plans are _brilliant_!”

Heatwave snorts, “I can list five times off the top of my memory banks of times you were clearly being an idiot.”

The man sputters indignantly. If the corner of Kade’s mouth is tugging up, well, no one’s here to call him out on it.

A yawn breaks through his lips, and his shoulders drop in fatigue.

“Go to bed,” Heatwave tells him, voice uncharacteristically gentle.

The cabin is warm, and Kade can never pass up the chance to possibly annoy his partner, so he wraps the blanket tight around his shoulders before pulling the seat all the way back, laying on his good side with a smirk. The sound of an exasperated sigh flows around him. The expected reprimand to leave the truck and the comment that the mech is not a bed never comes.

Huh. Well, if Heatwave has no complaints…

Kade lets his eyes droop. He rubs his thumb over the edge of the seat in small circles. Eventually, his thumb slows as his breathing evens out.

The next morning, there’s a crick in his neck, and he complains about it for the rest of the day. The redhead will never admit that it’s one of the best nights of sleep he’s had in a while.

Heatwave calls Kade a big baby. Tells him that he’s met more mature sparklings than him. He never tells him though, that he shouldn’t sleep in his cabin anymore. He would never admit that it reassured him to count the beats of his partner’s pulse.

It’s okay though, the two of them say more with less anyways.


	2. Needles

Heatwave knows humans don’t have EM fields, but he can say with certainty that if Kade did have one, it would absolutely be radiating embarrassment.

Kade was acting suspicious ever since he, Dani, and Graham had a day off from rescues during the weekend, and apparently had gone out. Unfortunately, Heatwave only was able to receive his information from Cody, as he and his team had been on the mainland base for some training. 

Actually, the more he thinks about it, Graham and Dani are acting odd as well. 

Kade officially has lost the ability to look him in the optics without quickly looking away with an expression that tells the mech that all the human wants to do is dig a ditch and go jump in it. Not to mention, anytime the firefighter manages to relax for five seconds in his cabin (which is surprisingly rare nowadays) and leans back against the seat, the man will flinch away, back ramrod straight.

It’s driving Heatwave nuts. Heatwave’s EM field could tell anyone in a 50 mile radius how annoyed he is.

His EMF would probably be driving his team nuts too, if their partners also weren’t acting odd. 

Graham stops rolling up his sleeves and starts wearing more cardigans. It wouldn’t be so odd if it were actually getting colder, but it’s still the edge of summer. Graham also never doesn’t roll up his sleeves. Heatwave hears Boulder question his partner about this one day when Graham is sweating bullets while making some blueprints and hears quite possibly what might be the most incoherent babbling he’s ever heard from Graham. It’s not as bad as how he is around Amy, but it’s definitely in the top five. He’s also itching his forearm a lot more often. 

Dani can be said to be the most normal of the three, but she starts to wear gloves to everything. If she takes them off, it’s not in the bots’ presence. When Blades asks her about it, she gives an offhand excuse about how she really likes the gloves and thinks they’re fashionable, and oh, isn’t it good training to be wearing her flight gloves all the time?

Yeah, it’s better than Graham’s babbling, but it could barely be called a good excuse.

So the bunker becomes quite the storm of emotions as the mechs try to figure out the mystery that is the young adult human mind. Heatwave’s anger, Boulder’s feelings of sadness, and Blades’ confusion all intermingle and leave quite the atmosphere.

It seems like Chief Burns is the only sane one, which often seems to be the case. Chase can only watch, scratch is head, and try to comfort his teammates as best as possible. 

The three other bots are left to their devices, and it becomes a lot quieter in the bunker. Dani, Graham, and Kade spend less and less time around. Of course, Graham still comes by to ask the occasional homework question, and quite frankly Dani still comes by enough for it to be almost normal. 

Kade’s presence nearly disappears if not for rescues.

Heatwave definitely does not care. 

If anything, the brash firefighter’s absence is a breath of fresh air. 

No more rides to the nearest burger joint, no more onion rings under the seats, and no crumbs. His cabin is quiet and noise-free. 

(There is definitely _ not _ a twinge in his spark whenever Heatwave feels the need to say something snarky and realizes there’s no one in the front seat. He definitely _does not_ miss having hands on his wheel.)

Even on their rescue missions, Kade is oddly laser-focused on the task at hand. Whenever Heatwave tries to coerce some sort of rise out of the eldest Burns brother (it typically isn’t hard, all it usually takes is a well placed, sarcastic jab at nearly anything the man is doing), the man barely hears him. He looks as if snapped out of a trance with a “Whazzat? You say something?” And the determination to get a rise out of the man rushes out of him like water flows from his hose.

(Heatwave refuses to put together the words “miss” and “Kade” together in the same sentence.)

As a last resort, the firetruck even asks if Kade doesn’t want to visit Hayley. Kade looks absolutely torn, but in the end, mutters something about visiting her another day and how he could catch another ride or really he could walk, and it’s then that Heatwave feels the full-blown brunt of rejection swirling. 

(His EMF drips with distress when he gets back to the bunker. He can’t even bother to contain it to himself. The other bots send out their own fields to envelop him in their warm concern and comfort. It helps.)

Heatwave just tries to accept that this is where they are now. He keeps telling himself that this is still better than when they first met.

_____

It’s been a week and a half before the secrets and silence from the older trio of Burns ends. It doesn’t surprise any of the bots that it’s Dani who breaks it.

They rescued a corner of the town from a gas explosion. It had been a big job. Heatwave and Kade are covered in soot, Dani and Blade were exhausted from helping so many people out of the building that went off. Graham and Boulder’s heads were spinning from all the equations, numbers, and parts they had to go through to make the area of danger safer. Chief and Chase had closed off many areas of the streets to prevent anyone else from getting caught up in the fiasco.

Back at the base, Dani rips off her helmet, fights through her exhaustion to shout, “Guys, I can’t keep this a secret anymore, can we please show them?”

Blades perks up, “Show what? You have something to show us? Wait. Is this a good something, or bad? The last time you said you wanted to show me something, I felt all the energon leave my head and go to my feet. It was not fun!” Blades pauses. “Well, okay, maybe a little bit fun.”

Graham looks a bit sheepish, giving a bit of a guilty look towards Boulder. “Sorry buddy, I know you’ve been a bit worried about me. But we kinda wanted this to be a surprise. Well,” Graham directs a pointed look towards Kade, “some of us did anyways.” 

Kade, from his position near Heatwave, puts his face in his hands and shouts through them, “We were drunk! This is so stupid! Do we have to?” He whines the last bit pathetically. Heatwave notices that his ears are almost concerningly red. He tries to crush the relief at hearing his partner’s immature voice in what seems like an eternity.

Their father, from his position, looks wary at Kade’s comment. “What did you kids do?”

Cody, from his position, watches his older siblings talk like watching a ping pong match, eyes wide with curiosity. 

Dani rips off her glove and shoves her left wrist into Blades’ faceplates, pointing a finger at black characters written on her wrist. Blade leans in further to read the small font, but it doesn’t take long for him to break out into a giant smile.

“Is that my name? In English _ and Cybertronian _?”

Graham rolls up his sleeves for the first time in a week and a half (keeping them down was something he had to be super conscious about), and reveals Cybertronian characters sprawling across his forearm, and the word “Boulder” written smaller underneath it. He lets Boulder lean in and turn his arm.

“Hope we did you guys justice. I had all your names from that time I asked you about your language. We asked the tattoo artist to replicate it as closely as possible.” 

Graham turns to his father with a bashful look, “Sorry for not telling you dad.”

Charlie sighs, “I’m not mad at you for getting tattoos, I’m disappointed that you weren't as safe as you could have been about it.”

Cody however, runs up to each of his siblings to get a look at their new tattoos with a shout of, “Noble!”

Boulder looks touched. “It’s perfect Graham. Thank you.”

Blades can’t help but ask, “Wait, does this come off?”

Charlie, taking up the mantle of the mature adult, deigns to give an answer. “Yes and no. If my kids decide they no longer want these, they can go through a procedure to remove it. If they decide they want to keep them though, these are going to stay with them forever. It’s not a small decision.”

“It also hurts,” Kade mumbles.

Heatwave stares at his partner, not knowing what to expect. It seems like the firefighter went with his siblings to “get inked” as well. There’s no way though, the mech tells himself, that Kade would subject himself to getting _ Heatwave’s _ name permanently written anywhere on his body. 

Dani, looking exasperated, sighs at her brother and gives a sympathetic look towards Heatwave. “Well Kade, are you going to keep everyone waiting all day?”

Kade shoots his sister a dirty look but proceeds to slowly remove his firefighting jacket. His ears are as red as Heatwave’s paint. The suspenders come off next, then he pulls off his shirt before turning away from the mech. 

On the man’s left shoulder blade is Heatwave’s name, clear as day. 

The skin around the words is slightly raised and puffy. There’s a bit of peeling as well. The mech will never be the first to admit he knows the most about humans, but he can only imagine that it’s not comfortable. He can’t believe it. He can’t take his eyes off it. He kneels down to better see his name. Heatwave’s servos twitch. The temptation to reach out is strong.

“Hey Kade,” Dani singsongs, “Why don’t you tell Heatwave the reason that his name’s on your _ back _?”

Kade sputters at his sister before yelling, “Oh my god, _ shut up _ Dani!” 

With an intense fascination, the leader of the Rescue Bots watches as the flush around Kade’s ears spreads further down his neck. The firefighter buries his face into his shirt in mortification. 

Graham can’t help but laugh and join in the fun of teasing his older brother. “It was actually a really sweet reason. Kinda still can’t believe Kade thought of it honestly.”

Cody runs over next to Heatwave to admire the tattoo. “Oh! Is it because…”

“La la la la la, not listening!” 

Reluctantly, the mech turns away from his partner’s back to Cody, his curiosity overriding his other emotions. He arches his brow plates and tries to speak over the red head’s muffled shouts. “Because what?”

Cody smiles innocently. “I think it’s because this way, you’ll always have his back.”

“Ding ding ding, we have a winner!” Dani cheers. 

Heatwave’s jaw nearly unhinges from his faceplates. There’s absolutely no way his incorrigible ass of a partner could ever be that… _ sentimental _. He knew that Kade could be a huge softy. He shows it every time he raced in at the front line of danger before anyone else, when he plays with the kids in the neighborhood, and his occasional outbursts of sincerity that cut through the narcissistic shield Kade wears like armor. It might be near impossible to admit out loud, but their partnership has evolved into something… companionable. Deep in the recesses of his spark, there’s a spot that radiates something like affection for the human. He had assumed Kade felt the same, even if they never said anything to each other, but he would have never assumed that Kade would consciously scribe Heatwave’s name into his back like a brand of protection. 

A servo comes to rub at his chest plate. Fans start to whir quietly as his spark radiates more heat than normal. 

The rest of the bots smile as they pick up on their leader’s EMF. It’s likely that he’s not even noticing how strongly his field is expressing his emotions. It’s hard to really pin any emotion on his EMF. Confusion, relief, joy, concern, and fondness all weave together to form a warm blanket that settles in the bunker. 

But then there is a shift as denial floods through him. He knows Kade. This is all a nice joke. Cody doesn’t have a jaded bone in his body, and Dani loves to tease her older brother any chance she gets. 

It’s here that Kade finally decides to save his poor shirt from his face and own his choices. “Yeah so what?! It’s not like this is anything new, it’s just… other people can see it now. Even if _ my _name isn’t on Heatwave’s back, I’ll still have it!”

Spurred by this burst of new energy, Kade rapidly puts his shirt back on and swivels to face his bot. “You better not have any complaints about this because I ain’t getting it off!”

With that, the man takes quick steps to reach the elevator and rides it to the upper floors. 

Heatwave remains frozen, knees on the floor.

Chief Burns turns to his partner and pats him on the leg, “C’mon Chase, there’s somewhere I want to go.”

“Sir?”

“Seems like I’m a bit behind the times. Let’s see if we can get caught up.”

Graham turns to Boulder, with a happy grin. “Hey buddy, wanna go to the library?” 

Boulder holds out his hand so Graham can climb on. “I’ve been waiting for you to ask for a week and a half!”

“Oooh, oooh! Dani, let’s go watch that movie! The one about finding the treasure with the really old paper!”

Dani laughs and leads the way. “Alright Blades! Hey Cody, you should come to! It’s a classic!”

“I’ll make some popcorn!”

Everyone slowly makes their way out of the bunker. Heatwave finally stands, puts a servo over his optics and huffs out a laugh. Well, who would have thought, Kade Burns may just have a heart.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This headcanon would not leave me so now you guys can have this with you too. I was gonna just have all the Burns kids have their tattoos on some part their arm (Kade would be shoulder) but then I realized, holy shit, his back. And I thought it was absolutely cheesy and hilarious and cute and these two are such tsunderes that it was like I gotta.


	3. Bloody Nose

Their dad shows off his tattoo, proudly streaked across his shoulder, right after it’s all healed up. Chase looks absolutely ecstatic. Dani swears that if the bot’s could cry, Chase would be tearing up. Kade just thinks it’s sick that their dad got a tattoo. Graham thinks it’s pretty nice that they’re all matching. 

The bots are all fascinated by their names engraved on their humans’ skin. When Graham asks about if the bots have anything similar, Boulder points out the Autobot symbol that they all carry. The permanence and the freedom to choose to carry that symbol carries meaning for all of them, and they can’t explain how moving it is that the Burns’ carry the bots’ names in a similar way.

Kade isn’t sure how much it really means to Heatwave. The other bots will ask to look at their partner’s tattoos again or ask a whole bunch of questions about it, but Heatwave doesn’t seem like he cares too much. Which is good! Not like Kade wants to make a big deal about this. It’s  _ embarrassing _ . He’s not much of an introspective guy, so he avoids thinking about the whats and whys of Heatwave’s name burning like a brand on his back. 

There’s a shift though. 

Oh they bicker and banter like normal, but there are moments when the big guy doesn’t immediately bite back at whatever shade Kade’s thrown down. Quiet pauses where Heatwave seems to be thinking about something hard enough to block out his partner’s annoying flippant mouth.

It’s kind of unsettling, but Kade leaves it be since that’s how they work. 

Either way, more than Heatwave’s weirdness, Kade can’t help but being more concerned about how cold it’s starting to get. 

Kade’s always more sensitive to cold. Of course he also loves the occasional snowfall (and pelting his siblings with snowballs). But his eagerness to be constantly warm probably is what made him such a good firefighter. On the other hand, Dani is always excited to feel a nice chilly breeze. She thrives on the brisk air at high altitudes. Graham, Cody, and his dad are all more ambivalent about the temperature (though Graham and Dad leaned more towards being more comfortable a bit chilled while Cody carries around that jacket of his for a reason).

Anyways, Kade hates everything about the cold. It makes the hairs rise on his skin and goosebumps to bubble up. The back of his hands gets dry and burns. He has to go through bottles of lotion and chapstick just to feel normal. When he breathes through his nose, it’s dry and uncomfortable. He blows his nose more often these days. 

So really, it’s not surprising when he feels the familiar feeling of a pressure building in his nasal passages before there’s something trickling down his face.

Thankfully, it doesn’t happen during a mission.

Unfortunately, it does happen during movie night with his family.

“Dang it,” he mutters as he pinches his nose and instinctively throws his head back, feeling blood smearing his lips and draining down the back of his throat. The feeling is absolutely disgusting and he winces at the taste of blood at the back of his tongue. 

Dani, who’s sitting next to him, notices first. She roughly shoves the back of his head, making him face his knees. 

“You idiot, don’t you know you’re supposed to tilt your head forward by now? This happens like every other winter!”

Their dad, hearing the conversation between his two eldest children, turns his attention from the movie and looks in concern. “Son, you alright?”

“I’m fine, it’s just a nosebleed,” Kade replies, voice nasally. 

Graham gets up. “I’ll go get some kleenex.” 

Cody pauses the movie. The bots look confused until they see the blood staining Kade’s fingers and mouth which raises all their alarms. They’ve seen enough injuries now on their time on Earth to know that blood is not good for humans. 

“Oh Primus, is Kade dying?!”

“Chief, shall we transport Kade to the hospital?”

“Are you okay Kade? Can we help?”

Heatwave has an expression that’s a mix of alarm, anger, and concern. “What the slag is wrong with you? What’s happening?”

Kade lifts his head to look at Heatwave, ready to retaliate and say that he said he was  _ fine _ . But Heatwave gets a full view of the blood staining Kade’s hands and dripping down his chin onto his white shirt. His EMF goes wild with worry. The other bots attempt to reach out with their own fields in an attempt to calm their leader. They can empathize easily. If any of their partners were bleeding, they would also feel the same way. 

Before Kade can answer with a cutting remark, Cody cuts in. “Guys, Kade is fine. He’s having a nosebleed. He gets them sometimes during the winter. The air gets really dry so if you don’t take care of yourself, your skin dries out.”

Graham comes back with a box of kleenex which Kade takes gratefully. He pulls three sheets out in rapid succession, holding it to his nose. Heatwave watches as it starts getting soaked with the blood from his partner’s nasal passages, feeling the energon pumping through his systems growing cold. He trusts the Burns family with his life, but it’s still unsettling watching what is essentially the fluid driving Kade’s life flowing out of him. It reminds him too much of Kade in the hospital, pale and unmoving, of the gash on his side, staining his clothes red and the concrete red. 

His servos clench into a fist. He wants to punch something, but there’s nothing at fault except for the low humidity. 

Heatwave is yanked out of his thoughts when he feels a warm palm on his leg plates. He can read a steady pulse, clear and strong. It calms his EMF ever so slightly. The other bots lose a bit of tension in their own fields.

“You’re not getting rid of me that easily.”

A small smirk grows on his faceplates despite everything. “Too bad. Looks like it isn’t my lucky day.”

Kade snorts but then instantly scrunches up his face in regret. “Join the club.”

Heatwave rubs at his faceplates. “So you’re not keeling over on me right? I’m not going to be the one dragging your sorry aft out of fires during missions.” 

The both of them conveniently ignore the firetruck’s lie.

“Yeah right. I’ll carry you out before you ever have to carry me out,” Kade jokes.

It’s Heatwave’s turn to snort. “I’d pay to see that.” He waits a moment before adding, “Your voice sounds stupid like that.”

Kade looks hilariously insulted, and it’s then that the bot lets himself relax the tiniest bit. The eldest Burn child looks hesitant before he removes the tissue from his nose. To his relief, it appears the blood has dried out and clotted. 

Now that Kade’s nosebleed stopped, Cody finds that the bots have settled down enough to resume playing the movie. 

Heatwave keeps an optic on Kade though, movie fading into background noise. The firefighter bristles at the feeling of being watched and turns to give his partner an annoyed glare. He mouths, “I’m  _ fine _ .” 

The triple changer gives his own glare before trying to bring his attention back to the movie. It doesn’t last long though, as he feels something soft seated next to his foot. At some point, Kade had shifted himself closer to lean his head against him. A part of him feels the instinct to nudge his foot to shake Kade off, but a bigger part of him feels content enough to leave the red-headed man be. 

Before the movie ends and the light turns on, Kade returns back to his previous spot, but the warmth of him lingers on Heatwave’s frame, and Kade has a small, sincere smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A shorter little thing, this time :)


End file.
